Bruins aren't the only team under pressure in Game 3 against Canadiens

The Bruins, coming off an emotional comeback win that evened the playoff series at 1-1, now face the prospect of consecutive games at Montreal's Bell Center. Their hosts, however, may be facing just as must pressure as the Bruins.

Their coach, Michel Therrien, says it’s the Bruins, not his team, who work the officials. Their goalie, Carey Price, said the B’s got lucky during Saturday’s four-goal, third-period rally, which evened this best-of-7 playoff series at 1-1 entering Game 3 tonight (7, NBCSN, WBZ-FM/98.5) at the Bell Center in Montreal. Price also sniffed at the idea that he’s more vulnerable to high shots than any other goalie.

Know what? There’s at least some truth to all that.

Bruins coach Claude Julien took an unsportsmanlike penalty in Game 2 for something he said to a referee and we know what he said after the game. Patrice Bergeron’s tying goal became a waist-high shot after it hit some sort of rut on the ice. And in an era of butterfly-style goalies like Price, the Bruins’ Tuukka Rask, etc., there’s almost no sense in trying to score on low shots. There’s more room up top.

The B’s didn’t react to any of this on Monday, which was probably a good idea. It’s hard enough to filter out everything that goes into playing at the Bell Center without inviting anything else to seep in.

“At the end of the day, we’ve just got to go out there and play our game. It’s important for us to think about what we need to do to win, and not let those kind of distractions get in our heads,” Julien said.

An argument can be made that it’s the Canadiens, and not the Bruins, who face the most distractions at this point – even though they stole home ice with their double-overtime win in Game 1.

We know some lineup changes are being considered, since bulky defenseman Douglas Murray (6-3, 240) practiced on Monday with Mike Weaver, replacing Francis Bouillon (5-8, 194). The Habs also might have to replace Rene Bourque, one of those unlikely stars who always emerge in playoffs (9 goals in 63 regular-season games; 4 in 6 playoff games), who reportedly has the flu.

And just because they’re home, it doesn’t mean the Canadiens aren’t under some pressure. That may go more for Price than anyone.

There’s no denying that Price, who helped Canada win Olympic gold in February, is physically gifted (6-3, 212) and immensely talented. His 48-save performance in Game 1 was one for the ages and he made tremendous stops in Game 2 (30 saves), as well.

But, starting with Game 4 of the Habs’ first-round sweep of Tampa Bay, Price has also played a part in the evaporation of three straight two-goal, third-period leads. He and Montreal are still 5-1 this postseason and in good shape as far as this series goes – but Price has also had his share of playoff issues.

Page 2 of 2 - Granted, every goalie is impacted by the way his teammates play in front of him, and this era’s Canadiens focus more on offense than defense. That said, Price’s past postseason performances have ranged from ineffective to inconsistent.

Maybe he gets a pass for last year when he couldn’t complete the Habs’ five-game, first-round loss to Ottawa because of an injury sustained in Game 4 – but he was 1-2, 3.26, .894 before that. His numbers in Round 1 against the Bruins in 2011 were strong – 2.11, .934 – but he and the Canadiens blew the 2-0 series lead they took to Montreal.

The Bruins swept Price and the Habs in 2009 (4.11, .878) and in his rookie year of 2008, his sloppy performance in Game 5 at home – 19 saves in a 5-1 loss – opened the door for the B’s to win Game 6 at TD Garden, 5-4. (Price, it should be noted, also shut out the B’s twice in that series, including Game 7.)

Ancient history? Quite possibly. The fact remains, though, that Price has never carried the Habs out of the second round in his seven-year career. The only time Montreal has advanced to the conference finals during his tenure was in 2010 – the year he lost his starting job to Jaroslav Halak.

As entertaining as it can be to listen to or participate in the talk that flies around in a series like this, action is what matters. It would be a stretch to suggest the Bruins have Price and the Habs right where they want them, but the Canadiens and their goalie are definitely under pressure to go where they haven’t gone before.

Mike Loftus may be reached at mloftus@ledger.com. On Twitter.com: @MLoftus_Ledger.